Roger was very satisfied.
He had Jack on his left and Hector on his right, looking exactly like a left Azure Dragon and right White Tiger, with the one in the middle being... a gang boss.
No, he was a pirate captain now, not a gang boss.
Though what he did didn't seem to be much different.
"Alright, since our internal conflict has been amicably resolved through friendly negotiation, let's discuss the next agenda item."
Roger cleared his throat and pressed the two legendary captains, who had just been forced to shake hands but whose faces were screaming "I'll kill you sooner or later," back into their seats.
"Regarding the company's development plan for the next quarter, I have an immature little suggestion."
He weighed the compass, which he had "temporarily taken custody" of from Jack, in his hand.
The needle pointed steadfastly towards Port Royal.
"It's destiny, brothers."
Roger pointed at the compass and shouted at the group of new employees on deck, who were already hyped up after just joining.
"Even God wants us to go to Port Royal for a friendly cultural exchange!"
"What are we going to do?"
"Zero-dollar shopping!"
"What's our slogan?"
"Yours is mine, and mine is still mine!"
The pirates were stirred up, roaring and thumping their chests loudly.
They wished they could fly to Port Royal right now and pull off Norrington's wig.
Jack and Hector exchanged glances, both seeing a hint of despair in each other's disdain.
Could they really survive until retirement following such a lunatic captain?
Especially Jack, he looked at his precious compass in Roger's hand, his heart aching.
He had a premonition that this so-called "temporary custody" might last for ten thousand years.
Night.
Port Royal.
In the tranquil harbor, a dozen Royal Navy warships flying the Union Jack flag were neatly lined up under the moonlight.
They exuded an elite aura of "I'm expensive, don't touch me."
The most conspicuous among them was undoubtedly the dauntless, a massive battleship with numerous gunports, anchored in the very center.
Norrington's flagship, the pride of the Royal Navy in the entire Caribbean Sea!
At this moment, a few nautical miles from the harbor, a completely black ship was silently gliding through the darkness.
the explorer.
"Did you all understand?"
Roger stood at the bow, lowering his voice, giving his final pre-battle pep talk to the dense crowd of crew behind him.
"This operation, codenamed 'Laying Hen,' emphasizes taking them by surprise!"
"Buck, you take a hundred men and sneak in from the left; your target is those frigates!"
"Tie up all the crew, and break the legs of anyone who dares to resist!"
"Those marines are all a source of ransom!"
"Hector, you take a hundred men and go in from the right!"
"Empty out the warehouses and armories for me!"
"Remember, don't even let a copper coin in a rat hole escape!"
After assigning the tasks, Roger looked with satisfaction at his three hastily assembled "assault teams."
One consisted of fanatical new employees brainwashed by his grand promises.
One was a seasoned old hand trapped by a debt contract.
And the other was a unlucky fellow from whom he had conned his precious compass with nothing but empty words.
Perfect.
This team configuration was like having a gathering of brilliant but unconventional minds.
Just then, the dark clouds parted, revealing the cold moonlight.
A new pirate timidly raised his hand.
"Cap... Captain... I... I'm losing flesh..."
Roger: "?"
He looked in the direction the pirate was pointing.
He saw a piece of flesh peeling off the guy's cheek, revealing the stark white bone underneath.
"Holy shit! Me too!"
"My hand! My hand turned into bone!"
"Help! Captain! What kind of witchcraft is this!"
Under the moonlight, the deck instantly descended into chaos.
Under the moonlight, the flesh and blood on the two hundred-plus newly recruited employees were disappearing at a visible rate.
In less than half a minute, the deck was filled with bizarre-looking skeletons.
Some still had bits of rotten flesh hanging on, while others were clean enough to be sent directly to a medical school as specimens.
Billy looked down at his bony hand, then at Hanson, who was also just bones next to him, and the two skeletons exchanged glances.
Then, Billy cautiously raised his hand and poked Hanson's ribs.
"Hey, buddy, quite distinctive, huh?"
Roger's brain froze for 0.3 seconds.
What was going on?
Didn't they say the side effects were eliminated?
"Ding! Detected that your crew has entered a 'Moonlight' environment. The hidden skin 'Moonlit Skeleton' has been automatically equipped for you and your crew!"
"Friendly reminder: This skin is a bonus from the 'cortez's heart' artifact, has no attribute bonuses, is purely cosmetic, and focuses on a retro style."
Roger's eyes darted around, then the expression on his face grew increasingly fervent and sacred.
He spread his arms and, in an operatic tone, declared to the skeleton crew who were still studying each other's bone structures.
"Children! Don't panic!"
"This is not a curse! This is a gift from the Sea God!"
"It is proof of our status as chosen people!"
"Do you see our perfect form? This is our most powerful state!"
Roger's grand deception had an excellent effect on these pirates, whose brain capacity was already not very large.
"The Captain is right!"
Buck was the first to respond, punching his bare sternum with a crisp "thump."
"This is way cooler than before!"
"Yeah! I've long found this flesh on me cumbersome!"
The skeletons instantly turned from panic to excitement, waving their bony arms and howling.
Jack and Hector watched, dumbfounded.
They felt their pirate worldview had been refreshed once again by this crazy Roger.
"Depart!"
Roger waved his hand.
The next second, over two hundred skeletons slid down the ropes, silently infiltrating Port Royal.
A unique "zero-dollar shopping" spree began.
James, the sentinel at Port Royal, was dozing off by the cannon.
He dreamt he married the prettiest girl in town and had a bunch of chubby babies.
Suddenly, he felt someone patting his shoulder.
"Who is it? Don't bother me..." James waved his hand impatiently.
The pressure on his shoulder increased.
James grumbled as he opened his eyes.
Then, he saw a grinning skeleton laughing "cackle, cackle, cackle" at him.
"Ah ah ah ah ah ah!"
A shrill scream pierced the tranquility of the harbor.
"Oh my god, it's a ghost!"
The entire Port Royal was instantly illuminated, and the alarm bells rang loudly.
Countless marines rushed out of their barracks, frantically searching for the enemy.
Then, they saw a sight they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
A group of skeletons was carrying large and small boxes from their warehouse, lining up to move them onto a black ship.
Another group of skeletons was chasing their companions around the harbor.
Billy pounced, pinning a marine to the ground, then opened his tooth-only mouth and bit down hard.
"I'll bite you to death!"
The poor soldier's eyes rolled back, and he fainted from fright.
Hanson was even more extreme; he was impaled by three soldiers' spears and pinned to a wall.
Not only was he not angry, but he happily unscrewed his own head and threw it like a ball at the few soldiers who were already terrified.
"Catch, friend!"
The melee instantly turned into a horror show filled with black humor.
The marines' muskets and bayonets were useless against these pirates.
Bullets passed through ribs, leaving only small holes.
Swords struck bone, leaving nothing but white marks, utterly useless.
And the skeletons' counterattacks were a double blow, both physical and psychological.
They barely even used weapons; they simply chased you, laughed at you, or detached their own body parts and threw them at you.
A soldier was hit on the head by a flying leg bone and immediately fainted.
The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was a one-legged skeleton standing on one leg and flipping him off.
Aboard the dauntless.
Norrington looked at the miserable scene on the dock, completely numb.
"What are those things?!"
He grabbed a subordinate by the collar, roaring hysterically.
"Reporting, Commodore! I... I don't know! They can't be killed! They are devils!"
The subordinate was crying, snot and tears streaming down his face.
Seeing the greedy skeletons frantically moving the plundered supplies back onto the explorer, Norrington could no longer sit still.
"the dauntless, open fire!"
"Sink their ship!"
"I'd like to see where they can take their loot!"
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